This is a really AU and I hope humorous idea I've had floating around for awhile….Thanks for reading!

"Ray?" Deacon walked through the house. It was completely silent. The girls were at school, their last regular day of classes before they switched to the tutor Rayna had hired to go on the road with them. They were set to leave at the end of the week. The last month had been crazy, getting all the details finalized for the last leg of the tour. And to top it all off, Rayna had been sick twice, first with a sinus infection that left her not able to sing and forced her to cancel a weekend of shows, and now she had been completely levelled by a stomach virus for the last three days. He set the bag on the kitchen counter that contained the requested chicken soup from her favorite deli, and a giant bottle of ginger ale.

He found her in their bathroom, on her knees with her forehead leaning on the cool edge of the porcelain tub.

"Aw, darlin," he kneeled down next to her and brushed her hair out of her face. "Still not feeling any better, huh?" He hated seeing her so miserable.

"I feel like death," she grumbled as she let him pull her against him. "Ugh, this is terrible. I never get sick, and now twice in a month."

"That settles it then," Deacon said, scooping her up in his arms. "I'm taking you to the emergency room."

"We don't need to do that, I'm fine," she protested as he carried her into the other room. He set her on the edge of the bed.

"Honey, you've looked like hell for three days now. I'm taking you in," he said firmly. "They'll at least give you something to make you feel better and make sure you're not dehydrated."

Rayna shook her head. "I think it's just a virus. Seriously. Or it could be….well…you know," she couldn't even say it out loud. It almost sounded embarrassing. They were not exactly teenagers. An "oops" of that proportion would be exactly that- embarrassing.

From the blank look on Deacon's face, she could tell he had no idea what she was getting at.

Typical man, she thought, rolling her eyes.

"What, Ray?"

"Deacon, I could be pregnant."

Now he looked about as green as she felt. "Uh….what? How's that possible, I mean…."

"You know, pregnant," Rayna said, her voice edged with sass. "I would think you remember how that happens. Then again, the last time-."

"Rayna, that is not funny!"

"Well, babe, you're looking like you're about to be the one heading into the bathroom to get sick."

"I thought you were takin those pills or somethin' ?"

"I was on medication for that sinus infection last month, remember? Antibiotics can sometimes mess with the effectiveness of birth control."

"Uh, okay. I didn't even know that could happen. You could have mentioned that."

She put her arms across her chest, annoyed. "And are you saying that's only my responsibility? Because that is the most sexist thing I've ever heard."

"I'm not sayin that! Oh hell," he muttered, running his hands through his dark hair as he paced back and forth in front of her. "I don't even know what I'm saying. I'm drowning here, aren't I?"

"Yes, you certainly are."

"Do you uh…you know. Have to take a test or something? See a doctor?"

"I can get a test from the drug store before we start worrying about doctors."

"Okay, good," he said hurriedly. "Let's go get one and get it done so we know for sure."

It was almost amusing. Almost. Rayna raised her eyebrows and looked at him, insinuating.

"Oh no. I am not going anywhere near that aisle."

"Deacon," she said exasperatedly. "I can't do it. It'll be all over the front page of the Tennessean by five o clock."

"What about Bucky? Can't you make Bucky do it?"

"That's ridiculous. I've made Bucky do a lot of crazy things but that's pushing it, even for him."

"Rayna. You know how much I love you," Deacon said, holding up his hands in defense. "But I'd rather stick fish hooks in my eyes. Please don't make me do this."

#####################################

An hour later, he found himself standing in the "no man's land" aisle of a Murfreesborough drugstore. No man should ever have to do this, he grumbled to himself.

He'd thrown on an old ballcap and sunglasses. He was sure he looked like an idiot, and he definitely felt like an idiot, but the key was being a non-recognizable idiot.

There was an entire aisle of female paraphernalia, and four shelves of pregnancy tests. How in god's name can women need fifty different versions of the same thing to answer one yes or no question?

"Oh hell," he muttered. He glanced around to make sure no one was watching, and finally just grabbed a handful of different rectangular boxes and threw them in the basket. Then he snagged a magazine off a nearby rack to cover up the evidence and turned to make a getaway to the self-checkout.

And of all the people on the entire planet, here was Juliette Barnes walking down the aisle from the other direction.

"Fancy meeting you here," she stopped in front of him and put her hands on her slender hips, eyebrows raised. "You really think that get-up is working?"

He whipped off the sunglasses and frowned. "Well it was."

Juliette reached in the basket and picked up the magazine. "You read Cosmo now, Deacon?"

"It's for Rayna," he said, gritting his teeth. "Don't you got somewhere else to be? Like somewhere not here?"

"Not particularly, she said, clearly enjoying the hell out of his embarrassment a little too much. "Where is Rayna? Our paths haven't crossed much lately, I keep having to deal with Bucky."

"She's waiting in the car. She's been…uh…sick the last few days. Just asked me to get her a few things."

"Oh, that's sweet." Juliette smirked, leaning over to inspect the rest of the contents of his basket. Her face clearly showed her surprise. And amusement. "You know she has to pee on all those. I don't think you need fifteen of them."

Exasperated he quickly shoved five of the boxes back on the shelf.

"This is about as far out of my element as you can get," he muttered.

He could grumble all he wanted, but Juliette could see something in Deacon's eyes that had been missing for a long time. He was happy. It had certainly taken long enough for him and Rayna to finally admit they were both still crazy about each other.

"You look good," she said. "Things must be going good for the two of you. Obviously."

"They are," Deacon conceded. He couldn't hide a smile. "Been a long road, but we're getting there. You?"

A brief shadow crossed Juliette's face, but she shrugged. "You know…same old."

"You and Avery?"

"Don't even ask."

"You ever wanna talk, you know," he said quietly. "I'm around. Or Ray."

"Thanks. I'll keep that in mind."

"So you just strolled down this aisle by accident, huh? In this store 30 miles from home?"

"Something like that." Juliette said guardedly.

With a sigh, Deacon took two of the boxes out of his basket and put them in hers. His eyes met hers knowingly.

She looked down at 'em for a long time, then took a deep breath. "See ya around, Deacon. "

"See ya, Juliette. And by the way, let's not mention running into each other here, huh? Like ever."

Juliette shook her head and turned away. He could hear her laughing as she headed for the checkout.

I'm never gonna live this one down, he thought.

###########################

That bag sat in the console between him and Rayna all the way home, and neither one of them touched it. In fact, neither one of them pretty much said a word for the thirty minute drive.

This is crazy. I haven't even figured out the two girls we already got yet, Deacon thought. But maybe it wouldn't be so bad. The more and more he thought about it, he kinda was getting used to the idea…

Rayna peeked over at him. He looked apprehensive. We're ridiculous, she thought, suddenly wanting to laugh out loud. We're not seventeen year olds. This isn't that big of a deal. People have babies every day.

But a baby would change everything. Again.

Deacon gave her a little smile, and reached for her hand.

"It'll be alright, sweetheart. Either way."

He always knows what to say, she thought, giving him a smile in return.

They sat in the driveway for what seemed like forever.

Rayna didn't move, just sat there staring out the window.

With a sigh, Deacon grabbed the bag and walked into the house, with her following slowly behind.

Upstairs, Rayna reluctantly took it when he held it out and headed for the bathroom.

"My god! Why did you buy eight of them?" She yelled through the bathroom door.

"I don't know, Ray, they all looked different!"

Rayna came out then, and closed the door.

"Well?" he asked anxiously.

"We have to wait three minutes, Deacon. That's how it works."

"Um…okay."

He sat in a chair, fiddling with his hands and watched her pace the length of the bedroom, chewing her bottom lip.

"I mean, whatever happens, it's fine right?"

"Yup."

"We'll just….deal with it."

"That's what we always do."

Rayna got a faraway look in her eyes for a minute and stopped in front of him.

"Where's your mind going?"

"Oh you know," she said with a sigh. "I was just thinking about when I found out I was pregnant with Maddie."

He pulled her down on his lap, and she looped her arms around his neck. "I wish I would have been there for that. Was Tandy there with you at least?"

"No," she admitted. "We were on tour. I was in a gas station bathroom."

"Alone, huh," he said quietly.

"Yep." She'd never forget the feeling of looking down at the plus sign on that stick in her hand, an odd mix of wonder and being scared to death. And missing him so bad it hurt. He'd been in rehab then, back in for the fourth time. Tandy had been determined to push her into going on more dates with Teddy, but all she'd really wanted was Deacon.

"Aw, darlin." His arms held her a little tighter. "I'm sorry I wasn't there."

"I wanted to tell you, you know. I should have told you. There's really no reason that's a valid excuse. You had a right to know."

"We're here now, Ray. That's all that matters."

The timer on her phone went off, and she looked at him anxiously.

"Ready?"

"Yep. Ready or not."

##############################

They looked together.

All it looked like to Deacon was a bunch of lines and then he got it- the last one had a frowny face. It kinda matched the look on Ray's face, he thought. Maybe a little bit of disappointment.

"So that's a no, then, huh," he said, following her out of the bathroom.

She sank into the armchair near the bed. "I guess so."

He crouched down on his knees in front of her and took her hands in his, rubbing his thumb lightly over the silver band on her finger. "How you feel about that?"

"I'm not sure," she said slowly. "I mean, it would be a terrible time, right? The tour, and the record company, and we haven't even started planning a wedding yet. It would be crazy to throw a newborn in the middle of that. And starting over with diapers and sleepless nights…"

"That's true. All of it," he conceded.

"How you feel about it?" she asked cautiously.

"Honestly?" he said ruefully. "I guess it does still bother me that I missed out on all that stuff with Maddie. That it would be nice to start from the beginning…."

"It would," she said softly, leaning her head against his shoulder. "I think I kind of wanted it to be true."

"You know what?" he admitted. "Me too. Maybe more than I thought."

"We're not exactly getting any younger," she murmured. "If we ever…did want it to happen, we probably shouldn't wait too long, really."

"You saying you wanna make another baby, Ray?"

She lifted her head and looked into his teasing blue eyes. "I think we should probably think about getting through this tour and getting that wedding in order first," she reminded. "But after that…maybe? Just maybe."

"Well, I can't argue with that," he agreed as his eyes crinkled into a smile and he leaned forward and kissed her. "And you know, if it doesn't happen, I'm okay with that too. Cuz we still got the two smartest, most talented girls in the world."

As if on cue, footsteps on the stairs, the front door slamming brought them back to that reminder. The girls were home from school.

"I think I feel a little better already," Rayna sighed. "Must have just been a bug."

"Tell you what, you just chill out up here and relax for a bit," Deacon suggested. "I'll send the girls up to keep you company and make you some of that soup, okay? Bet by tomorrow you'll be good as new."

"Thanks, babe. What would I do without you?"

She watched him go, and then her gaze traveled to the framed pictures on the nightstand, one in particular catching her eye. Daphne couldn't have been more than six months old, propped up against the couch with her big sister's arm protectively around her. Maddie was about 4, give the camera her best say-cheese face. Time had passed so quickly….Maddie would be learning to drive soon…going off to the prom…filling out college applications…and Daphne wouldn't be far behind. Her babies were going to grow up and leave her for the real world. This house would be so quiet...

Suddenly it didn't sound so bad at all, having another little person to love with her eyes and his dark hair. Maybe not right now, she thought with a little smile, but soon…

Definitely soon.